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A new touring company will perform "American Idiot" Dec. 3-5 at Salt Lake City’s Kingsbury Hall.

When the musical opened on Broadway in 2010, New York Times theater critic Charles Isherwood called "American Idiot" invigorating and moving, "a pulsating portrait of wasted youth that invokes all the standard genre conventions — bring on the sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll, please! — only to transcend them through the power of its music and the artistry of its execution."

There’s not a single boring thing about the show, says McKeon, who uses words like "enthusiatic and bombastic" to describe it.

"American Idiot" tells the story of Johnny, who considers himself the Jesus of Suburbia, and his friends, Tunny and Will, who are looking for meaning in a post-9/11 world that doesn’t make sense. Johnny and Tunny leave their suburban town for the city, while Will stays home with his pregnant girlfriend, falling into drug and alcohol addiction. Tunny falls under the spell of patriotism as preached on TV, enlists in the military and is shipped off to war, while Johnny falls under the spell of drug addiction and the love of a girl he calls Whatsername. The trio eventually reunite back in their hometown, all of their lives altered.

"It’s the most physical show I’ve ever been in or seen," says Jared Nepute, who plays Johnny, the show’s lead, in a phone interview from Portland, Ore. His character has a huge arc over the course of the 90-minute show, but he begins with a near musical riot. During the opening songs, Johnny jumps into shopping carts, climbs up scaffolding and directly addresses the audience. "Plus all the choreography, which is incredibly physical," says Nepute, 24, who graduated two years ago with a degree in vocal performance from New York University.

Playing Johnny reminds him of a past role, playing Orlando in an off-Broadway production of "As You Like It." Comparing a character written by Billie Joe Armstrong with Shakespeare? Absolutely, Nepute says. "Because there are moments in the show where it is just me and the audience, and I’m literally looking them in the eye and telling people what just happened and what is about to happen."

A new touring company will perform "American Idiot" Dec. 3-5 at Salt Lake City’s Kingsbury Hall.

When the musical opened on Broadway in 2010, New York Times theater critic Charles Isherwood called "American Idiot" invigorating and moving, "a pulsating portrait of wasted youth that invokes all the standard genre conventions — bring on the sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll, please! — only to transcend them through the power of its music and the artistry of its execution."

There’s not a single boring thing about the show, says McKeon, who uses words like "enthusiatic and bombastic" to describe it.

"American Idiot" tells the story of Johnny, who considers himself the Jesus of Suburbia, and his friends, Tunny and Will, who are looking for meaning in a post-9/11 world that doesn’t make sense. Johnny and Tunny leave their suburban town for the city, while Will stays home with his pregnant girlfriend, falling into drug and alcohol addiction. Tunny falls under the spell of patriotism as preached on TV, enlists in the military and is shipped off to war, while Johnny falls under the spell of drug addiction and the love of a girl he calls Whatsername. The trio eventually reunite back in their hometown, all of their lives altered.

"It’s the most physical show I’ve ever been in or seen," says Jared Nepute, who plays Johnny, the show’s lead, in a phone interview from Portland, Ore. His character has a huge arc over the course of the 90-minute show, but he begins with a near musical riot. During the opening songs, Johnny jumps into shopping carts, climbs up scaffolding and directly addresses the audience. "Plus all the choreography, which is incredibly physical," says Nepute, 24, who graduated two years ago with a degree in vocal performance from New York University.

Playing Johnny reminds him of a past role, playing Orlando in an off-Broadway production of "As You Like It." Comparing a character written by Billie Joe Armstrong with Shakespeare? Absolutely, Nepute says. "Because there are moments in the show where it is just me and the audience, and I’m literally looking them in the eye and telling people what just happened and what is about to happen."